IMF rules Ukraine must repay Russian bond

The International Monetary Fund ruled Wednesday that Ukraine must repay a $3 billion bond bought by Russia in 2013.

Kiev had been trying to force Moscow to accept restructuring terms agreed with U.S. investment firm Franklin Templeton but Russia insisted that the debt, which matures Sunday, must be paid in full. The IMF has decided that the money constitutes official sovereign funds rather than a commercial bond, thus putting pressure on Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.

Earlier this month the IMF changed the rules on emergency lending so that countries in arrears with other nations were no longer prevented from receiving IMF bailout funds. In order qualify for further IMF money, Ukraine will now have to demonstrate that it is negotiating with Russia.

Ukraine's finance minister said Thursday the country was committed "to negotiating in good faith a consensual restructuring" but repeated that it would not pay the bond in full on December 20.

Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters Wednesday that an out-of-court settlement of the dispute was impossible. "We are open for cooperation but it's technically impossible," he said.

Authors:

Related stories on these topics:

balderdash

Boy, has Politico got this one wrong!

The IMF has changed its rulings on debt to specifically exempt Ukraine from repaying Russia outside the terms of what it considers ‘debt restructuring’. Or at least that’s what Ukraine To-day is telling the sheeple.